Tag: movies

On Friday, I was preparing to make popcorn for my family. We were going to watch Jumaji, the 1995 version with Kirsten Dunst and Robin Williams. Three years ago, we invested in an air popper. I added 2 small scoops of popcorn kernels and turned it on. After 30 seconds, the air popper cuts off and I see smoke! I unplugged it immediately.

My husband smells smoke as he walks into the kitchen. Realizing that the air popper is dead, he tries another method. He pours some pure vegetable oil in a wok pan. I add the popcorn kernels. He heats the kernels over a flame, moving the wok pan around. After 5 minutes, we have freshly popped corn. I added the usual olive oil and sea salt. It was delicious!

How many ways can you make fresh popcorn? The real question is how can you make it healthy? Here are a few tips:

Invest in an air popper. The price ranges from $20.00 to $35.00. You can order from Amazon or purchase from any department store. Add your favorite ingredients to your freshly popped corn.

Make your own. As I mentioned, we made delicious popcorn on the stove top with olive oil and sea salt. Baked Bree and Food Babe also have great recipes.

Whatever your popcorn preference, it’s best to make your own. With GMOs and other artificial additives that exist, you want to play it safe. With more of winter on it’s way, snuggle up with your loved ones with a bucket and your favorite flicks.

Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism advocacy and autism science organization. I follow them on Facebook and Google+. It’s a great resource. They recommended 5 movies about autism that are currently on Netflix. I’ve watched all five, which were all excellent.

1. Sounding the Alarm
2. The Story of Luke
3. Fly Away
4. A Mother’s Courage: Talking Back to Autism
5. Dad’s in Heaven with Nixon

Ironically, my husband had already watched The Story of Luke, and said that it was excellent. I watched it, and I agreed. It was the story of an 18-year old, autistic young man that had to move on with his life after his grandmother’s passing. Sounding the Alarm is a documentary that gave alarming figures of the increasing rates of autism diagnoses. In 1975, 1 in 5000 children were diagnosed with autism. Currently, 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with autism each year. It also profiled lives of children in different age groups on various ranges of the spectrum. Fly Away is the only fictional movie in this group. It tells the story of a single mother and the challenges that she faced raising her severely autistic-16-year-old daughter.

A Mother’s Courage: Talking Back to Autism profiles a mother with a severely autistic, 10-year-old son on a quest to gain more information about the disorder. They live in Iceland, and they travel to the United States and Europe to meet with autism experts and advocates. She also meets other families with autistic children. Finally, Dad’s in Heaven with Nixon begins with the examination of an autistic man’s family beginning in the 1920s. His family is interviewed, and he gives his commentary growing up with his family and his life now as an artist.

The reason that I watch these movies is so that I can learn more about autism. There was a time that you rarely heard about it. Now, it’s very prevalent. As discussed in A Mother’s Courage, autism affects boys more…4 boys for every girl have autism! When my son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder last summer, I didn’t want to accept it. Since he was born so premature, I figured he just needed to catch up. As soon as my son turned 2, he started having temper tantrums. I assumed that was normal. His pediatrician had mentioned that it would happen. Then, as time passed, I began to piece together everything that we were being told about his behavior. The repetitive tapping on walls, crying as an only form of communication, and a limited interest in play were signs that something was wrong.

My son began receiving ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) therapy in our home 2 hours per day, five days a week. He also had speech therapy once weekly and occupational therapy twice monthly. Over time, the temper tantrums stopped, and my son enjoyed playing with toys. He was also able to communicate in other ways besides crying and screaming.

Now at 3 1/2, my son still has a speech delay. When he starts back in preschool this a fall, he will continue with speech therapy. He will have a 5-hour day, 5 days weekly. For the summer, he had a 3-hour day, 5 days per week. He has about 20 words in his vocabulary. When he does say words, they are very clear. We are in the process of potty training, which is challenging on some days. Besides limited speech and communication, my son doesn’t have any other major issues. His health is fine. He loves to sing, collect leaves, and is interested in bugs and books. He enjoys playing outside. Today, you don’t find many children that enjoy playing outside. When I was a kid, we stayed outside until dusk.

I’ve heard of some people “beating autism” and going on to be college graduates. I want my son the be one of those people. As a mom, I will make sure that he is equipped with everything that he needs to succeed.